Scarampella violin at center of legal dispute in Texas

Members of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra with conductor Jaap van Zweden in 2008. (Jason Kindig)

A valuable Scarampella violin is at the center a brewing legal dispute involving a musician with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.

Filip Fenrych, a Polish-born violinist with the orchestra, claims that he doesn't owe $43,000 to a woman who authenticated a Scarampella violin after she sold it to him, without authentication, for a reduced price. The case was reported by Courthouse News.

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Fenrych is arguing that Tara Moore of Mesquite, Texas, asked for $90,000 for the violin that bore a Scarampella label, but wasn't authenticated. He eventually agreed to pay a reduced price of $47,000 for the unauthenticated instrument.

Later, Moore allegedly claimed she had found documentation authenticating the violin, and demanded the difference of $43,000. The musician has refused to pay the additional amount.

Violins made by Stefano Scarampella are highly valued in the music world. His instruments, of which he is believed to have made several hundreds, can be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars each. The Italian instrument maker worked during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Moore has reportedly asked for either the additional money or a return of the instrument. Fenrych has refused, saying that the violin is the only one he owns and that he has been playing on it for close to a year.